Tag Archives: USA

May 26, 2026 · 01:57

What is this game?

That is the setting and I am referring to the BBC article (at https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx21g0828reo) gives us ‘How Saudi Arabia’s spending spree reached the end of the line’ we see here that the article is all about setting a different tone. It starts with “Autocratic monarchs once left an echo of their glory in the ruins of the megaprojects they commanded at the peak of their unchallenged power. Those monumental physical traces are to be found in the fertile plains, mountainsides and deserts of the Middle East. But one of their most prominent modern counterparts may only have a digital footprint to leave behind for some of his most ambitious concepts.” What are they saying? You see the Saudi government and its royalty wanted to give the world something more and it came from “It was called Vision 2030. Extraordinary monolithic structures were to help bring forth new technological marvels not just for the Kingdom but for the world.” But as I remember Vision 2030 was about a lot more. They wanted their defense settings largely within the kingdom. They wanted to shed the dependency on oil. These settings are still in place. I reckon that they might get one of these plans filled by 2030, due to the war not all projects, but that is to be expected. War never came in the minds of any Saudi or gulf state. As we can go with, the United States largely screwed over the gulf states and it was my personal view that the United States wanted to destabilize the Middle East. And when we see (only 42 minutes ago) that ‘Trump suggests countries in region should sign Abraham accords recognising Israel under any deal’, this is not about peace, it is about destabilisation. The United States is about to collapse, it cannot pay its bills and they want a solution and they want others to pay for it. First we got Canada (a 51st state delusion) then it wanted Greenland and after that they went for Venezuela, but the oil was not cooperating. And now there is Iran and with the destabilisation of the Middle East the United States gets a lot of highly needed revenue. As far as I can see it, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia never signed up for that. And it was a decently hard target to fill by 2030 even with all the oil pumping it did in January. At present, most projects will get a delay, how much? I have no idea. So as we get “Some of the most striking projects are now being watered down, put on hold or even abandoned. Several come under the once all-embracing umbrella of the $500bn Neom mega-project.” With ““The thinking now is to basically get small wins, small successes here and there, instead of these mega projects,” says Abdullah. “Like, for example, the Red Sea island resort of Sindalah could be one small win that they can promote”” and it makes sense, Sindalah could be completed as could Oxagon, but there is no mention of Octagon in the article. Why not? As I see it “Oxagon will integrate industry 4.0 with circular economy principles to create a clean manufacturing ecosystem” The united States might be proud of the ten companies that are embracing industry 4.0, but the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has 48Km2 reserved for Oxagon, all embracing industry 4.0. Where is that mention? I have no idea how far it is along, but that brings in non-oil revenue, as such I reckon it is still on the books and optionally it is also spearheading China’s move towards the Middle East and Europe. That much plant space might set up a new consumer base and whilst some ‘giggle’ at Anko products, with Oxagon that could set massive revenue streams for Saudi Arabia and China towards Europe and as I see it destroy the MAGA manufacturing setting utterly and as I see it President Trump can kiss his manufacturing agenda goodbye as it relies heavily on broad tariffs and “Buy American” policies aimed at reshoring industrial jobs. When China sets up camp in Oxagon, there will be no interest in American products as Europe will embrace makers like Anko. Knowing this will be a mere slither of the destabilisation efforts by the United States. Yes, I believe that Israel would do well when it sides with Saudi Arabia and the UAE, but that is not the plan (as I personally believe it to be) of President Trump. He is losing more and more options and the bills on interest are due soon and as I see it, he can’t pay all of them which will drive up cost of the loans and drive down available cash for American infrastructure. I warned of this danger long before he became president and he merely wagered away whatever options he had. So what is Sebastian Usher intending? We are given “This is the same playbook, the same thing again with The Line. You know, ‘We’re going to build this huge thing. Oh wait, well now we’re going to significantly downscale it.’ And it’s the same thing over and over again, and it’s been that way even since before Mohammed bin Salman. They make these big announcements, they’re very splashy, and then it either doesn’t get built or it gets built in a significantly scaled down or [in a] ‘not what it was’ way.” Nothing like the Line was ever built by anyone and whilst we get “it’s the same thing over and over again”, give me examples? These settings are all given to us in a relative small amount of time and the war is impeding a lot of revenue that is now absent in Saudi Arabia and whilst there might be some cancelations, there are two projects that are still on the make and there is even a few other parts of Vision2030 that are unmentioned. It feels like the BBC is ‘adhering’ to what the United States wants. But they might be in denial on that. Oh, will we get the same old thing when the BBC reports on Cuba? Are there issues? I feel that there are, but whilst the Iranian mess is going on, there is all the reasons for whatever delay Saudi Arabia gives us and in this week the Hajj is playing out and I reckon that nearly all Saudi ’s are catering to the needs of 1.5 million pilgrims who are visiting Saudi Arabia and as I see it, several players are playing a game and it is against Saudi Arabia at present. But I might be wrong on that, it is merely the view that I am having.

Just saw it was breakfast time in Vancouver, Lunch in Toronto and dinner in Abu Dhabi, wouldn’t it be great to time travel to these three places in succession? I feel hungry for some weird reason, have a great day.

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May 22, 2026 · 04:28

Questioning my mindset

That is the question, so this is not about IP, or even about hardware. This is a software question, my software. It becomes the setting, am I a delusional paranoid, or a paranoid delusional? You might think this is fun, but I woke up at 03:30 when thoughts hit me and I looked online to seek some kind of verification (I really believe in verification, because that leads to validation) So I found CNBC (at https://www.cnbc.com/2026/05/21/iran-war-us-peace-talks-trump-hormuz.html) where we see ‘Iran reviews U.S. peace proposal as Trump says he’s willing to wait ‘a few days’’ and my first question was “He is willing to wait a few days?” The article where we see “Iran Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said the Islamic Republic had received the views of the American side “and are reviewing them,” according to the state-run agency Nour News.” The article was all neat and shiny (particularly the shiny part) and it merely increased the tensions within me. And I wonder if it is just me, or are there sides that others had picked up on? There is no blame to the media here, they merely reported on items and they did that. I think there is no oversight on their part, unless they all look at the complete picture from March 1st this year. Where some might see “President Trump used the phrase “bomb them back to the Stone Ages” in an April 2026 primetime address regarding the U.S. war with Iran. In the speech, he threatened to hit Iranian infrastructure “extremely hard” to force Tehran into negotiations over the Strait of Hormuz.” Yet the second article gives us (at https://www.nbcnews.com/world/iran/iran-us-talks-trump-tehran-gaps-nuclear-deal-pakistan-war-rcna346258) where we see ‘Iran-U.S. diplomacy intensifies as Trump seeks ‘right answers,’ Tehran signals gaps ‘reduced’’ and as I see it, President Trump never waited for right answers, you can look up his responses right back to the start of the 51st states mentions. The man talks before his brain kicks into motion. And the byline “A visit by Pakistan’s army chief Thursday was aimed at “reaching the point of officially announcing acceptance of the memorandum of understanding,” Iran’s semiofficial ISNA news agency reported.” Might have been the settler of it all. It comes with “Tehran was responding to Washington’s latest proposal, which had “reduced the gaps to some extent” between the two sides, the semiofficial ISNA news agency reported early Thursday. It said that a visit by Pakistan’s army chief was “aimed at reducing these gaps and reaching the point of officially announcing acceptance of the memorandum of understanding.”” The seed in me evolved and it blossomed right into a Castor Bean plant in my brain. The thought that had evolved was “Was this war about destabilizing the Middle East?” The attacks on the UAE was another part, the attacks on Saudi Arabia and Qatar seemed to be supporting this all. The entire setting is a sort of death jerk by the United States to stop the decrease of what is overwhelming them, as to reduce the damage that seems to be coming for them. The successes that the UAE got in Tourism and to some effect Saudi Arabia too, President Trump sees the lack of tourism that is coming for them and Canada exasperated that notion. The numbers aren’t adding up and why? Why are at least 3 government installations in the United States cooking the books? (Or at least that is what it looks like to me) and my mind around 02:00 this morning hammered me awake with this notion. The United States are destabilizing the Middle East to avoid total disaster before 2027. I don’t think they will, but the underlying setting then becomes is Iran in on this? They might like to destabilize Saudi Arabia and the UAE as well, and they are willing to play their part. I have no idea where Israel is in this and they might merely like the idea of bombing Iran, they have been their target for long enough.

So the question becomes “Am I merely a paranoid delusional individual or am I also a delusional paranoid?” It is a fair question to ask myself, and the answer could go either way, but I don’t believe that anyone has a clear answer. Perhaps the media has, but they are likely to busy chasing digital dollars. And the media answers are tainted to say the least. And as I see it Google Gemini (yes, I confronted a second source in this) gives us: “Middle East destabilization is currently driven by the active Iran war that began on February 28, 2026, when US and Israeli forces launched preemptive airstrikes. The resulting regional escalation—including retaliatory strikes on Gulf states and threats to global shipping—has shattered the pre-existing geopolitical balance and triggered severe diplomatic and humanitarian crises”, as such I don’t think I am entirely wrong. It might be flawed as the notion is subjective and that tends to come with data gaps, but the thoughts are there. 

So, as I put this to printed paper, perhaps my mind will relax and I might still get around 150 minutes of ZZZZZ time. Have a great day.

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May 19, 2026 · 00:08

Right out of the left field

I had a mind blast a few hours ago and I don’t know what got me to this. Well I kinda do, but I was not giving it much thought. So as I was enjoying a few moments (a moment is an hour) on YouTube, I saw a video about the Epic Universe, which until President Trump decided to go the way of the Dodo, it was my ultimate intent to spend a vacation in Epic Universe, but as things are, there is no way I am going there in the next decade (optionally the rest of my life). Now my mind is set to the theme park world of Yas Island in Abu Dhabi. So as I saw the YouTube video I suddenly had an idea. This is not something I can do, but after all the idiocy settings of HR people relying on AI settings. It struck to me that these people could use a ‘simulator’ several settings from stores to amusement parks. 

So consider that HR is set to a skill level as it tends to be, but how do you hire? What triggers are you considering? That is the stage of the simulator. You are given a pool of people and the DML/LLM of that system creates the letters, the person goes through them and selects their top 5 or top 10. Then the interview and from there you get 2-3 that go through the final round. Just like your average job setting. So, as you go through the settings of HR, the simulator gives you a rank, but more importantly it shows HR what staff needs additional training. So this would be an actual simulator to improve the HR setting of a company. 

And believe me, I have seen my shares of flaky scammers (so, not HR), HR that flatly deny you, and those who seem to believe that a new starter requires 5-10 years of expertise. There are all kinds of HR and as I see it, when the AI bubble bursts, whomever will be unable to hire the right people, will go under in that AI bubble and they will not be heard of again. The setting is that the truth of the matter is that any firm will need the right people. Who that is tends to be up to HR, but how to get them seems to be unclear. As such my mind came up with the simulator setting. Based on a pool of people with DML/LLM letters so to get a mingle of types as the simulator expands into construction, retail, consultancy we will see a while range of options and there is no immediate release. To add the styles and settings will take time, but consider that the United States has approximately 36.2 million businesses and the European Union has approximately 33.5 million active enterprises across its business economy. That is a pool of almost 70 million potential customers, the retail sector is still a lot less, but it is a start and when the simulator gets the power it needs to get, the simulator gets the finance and attention to grow into something serious. So, it was just an idea and if a dedicated IT HR programmer is out there, this idea is for you. I am not getting involved in a work I have seemingly no clue about.

Anyway, that was the idea I had today, I reckon that it could use the setting of localization down the road, especially with over a billion people in India, but as I see it, the USA and EU are a decent first bet. Have a great day.

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May 18, 2026 · 08:27

The new presiding solution

The mess we inherited is not one we asked for, whilst the dumbo’s of the World (all sitting in Washington DC) give us through the BBC (at https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd0p4y9y48xo) ‘Trump warns ‘clock is ticking’ for Iran as peace progress stalls’ with the ‘threatening’ setting we are given through “They better get moving, FAST, or there won’t be anything left of them,” he wrote on his Truth Social platform. “TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE!” We are also given that Iran is attacking Saudi Arabia and the UAE again and the Middle East Monitor (at https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20260517-saudi-arabia-is-pulling-europe-toward-a-gulf-helsinki-deal-with-iran-because-washington-failed/) ‘Saudi Arabia is pulling Europe toward a “Gulf Helsinki” deal with Iran — because Washington failed’ where we see the words of Tamer Ajrami giving us “I said clearly that Gulf states “have nothing but to talk to Iran now”. That was not idealism or goodwill. It was hard security math: the old formula is eroding. Bases do not protect the way people assumed, and guarantees shrink the moment they face a real test. Today, this is no longer an argument. It is a reality driven by markets before politics.” In an article that gives us “According to Western reporting, Saudi Arabia is floating something close to a “Gulf Helsinki Act” arrangement with Iran—modeled on the Helsinki process of the mid-1970s during the Cold War. It would not be just a Saudi–Iran deal. It would extend to the Gulf and the European Union, aiming to lock in non-aggression, structured economic normalization, and monitoring and implementation mechanisms.” So, as I personally see it, whilst President Trump is acting like the pussy he likes to grab. He made that statement in September 2005 on some tour. So whilst America is kept holding the bag, the entire economic and political setting comes in the hands of Europe and it is based on a proposed regional non-aggression and security framework initiated by Saudi Arabia, drawing inspiration from the 1975 Cold War-era Helsinki Accords. So this example is half a century old and still what would some call the stuff of legends and others will refer to it as an example that the United States could have used to further their own needs. But instead they pissed off the Persian bully and facing an American bully they both did what they do best (read: shout incriminations and attack the people around them). I am happy that I gave my solution to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the UAE (to destroy their infrastructure without resorting to heavy bombings, but the effect would have been equally devastating. A presented a recap in ‘In Summary’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2026/03/23/in-summary/) giving the total view (to some extent) where Iran’s infrastructure goes ‘Bye bye’.

But in all this Tamer Ajrami gives us “A Gulf–EU–Iran non-aggression arrangement without the United States creates a dangerous gap: the Gulf and Europe commit to non-aggression, Iran commits too, but Washington and Israel still retain the ability to strike Iran. What does the agreement do then? Does it become a nice document that collapses at the first air raid?” There is a simple (or simpler) setting. You see, Iran merely needs to leave the Gulf States alone, if it still attacks Europe would be faced to escalate actions against Iran and perhaps that would also shut down any Russian escalations we se towards Europe, because if it sees the damaging outcome of even one European strike Russia hopes to be wearing brown pants, instead of red pants hiding blood and wounds. But I still like the approach that the UAE had, but Iran made sure that they are not willing to talk peace now that the Barakah nuclear power plant has faced the attack of drones. I reckon that both Saudi Arabia and the UAE have had it with Iran, there might no longer be an option to talk. I had the idea on December 14, 2021 when I wrote ‘Keeping my promise, part 1.’ It was a way to meltdown an Iranian nuclear react from the inside (At https://lawlordtobe.com/2021/12/14/keeping-my-promise-part-1/). It came to me as there are two certainties. One it was based on a Russian design and they want it to be implemented ‘exactly’ (for obvious reasons) and the fact that all engineers are struck with laziness, even when innovation might be called for. As such I created this untested solution, I am, after all not a nuclear physicist. Now that Iran attacked a nuclear power plant, I see no restriction to hand Saudi Arabia and the UAE access to this innovative strike in me and when a rector melts down it will be unavailable for work for decades to come. The design came with some warnings as three issues can only be resolved by a nuclear physicist, but its a freebee, so live with it. The setting of all this is that the world tires of Iran and there are over 2 billion people to wish they were somewhere else (not in this world). The time for talks and keeping nice is over. The Barakah attack clearly sets this out. But still  gives us another setting and we see this with “Gulf states and Europe “bypass Washington” in practice. That would mean refusing the use of their airspace and territorial waters for any military or intelligence activity against Iran. And maybe refusing to enforce sanctions that destabilize the region and recreate the Hormuz shock. This is not a small move. It would be a strategic shift.” And as I see it, that strategic shift might be essential as this president is leaving his post (in the very near future) a nation that is about to become insolvent and it will not be able to afford even a Changli Freeman to replace the jeep required to move a general from points A to B. They will not be able to enforce anything, not without the money required for such an action. As I see it, they merely have the annexation of Iran to look forward to (well their bank managers see that as an option). 

So whilst we are given (in the BBC article) “Trump’s message echoed his threat that a “whole civilisation” would die unless Iran agreed to a deal to end the war, shortly before the ceasefire was announced in early April. The president warned earlier this week that truce was on “massive life support” after rejecting Tehran’s demands, labelling them “totally unacceptable”.” It is my view that this will never happen, two bullies agreeing on a thing? I severely doubt it. As such the Gulf–EU–Iran non-aggression arrangement might be the only way out for Iran and at that point the United States and Israel has to halt its actions as well. They would face the larger consequences of both the Commonwealth and Europe if they don’t and I reckon that we will see a light show in Washington DC to keep people looking away from an ex-president running for his life, because that is the setting that comes with insolvency. Their will be no red carpet exit and with his (allegedly) 37% approval rating which seemingly comes through a 100% disapproval rating by Democrats and at least a 50% disapproval rating of Republicans no other option will be left to him and at that point it will take over a decade to mend the bridges President Trump burned between January 20, 2025 and May 1st 2026, that is the impact of what needs fixing and it will take decades to get it fixed, anyone thinking that this will be a done deal in one or two high placed meetings is delusional. 

As I see it, it comes with a new stage, but this is top of mind thinking, there is no data or clear evidence in this. This has never happened before, but a new stage might be forming. It will be a stage where the new power table is set to Commonwealth, Europe and Gulf States. I reckon that the gulf states invited to that table are Saudi Arabia and the UAE. But as I see it, it will be a non-option to both China and Russia, we might not care what Russia thinks in this matter, but China is a different stage. It might not like that new power block to be in place. But that is a though I am merely having. 

To all a great day and my breakfast is now 1800 seconds and 1000 steps away.

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May 15, 2026 · 10:49

Two simple points

I was made aware of two events, one less than 2 hours ago. Both by the CBC, the first one (at https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/u-s-duties-tariffs-canadian-mushrooms-9.7200052) gives us ‘U.S. to slap tariffs on Canadian mushrooms as growers warn of broader risks for agriculture’ with the byline “U.S. pointing to agricultural tax exemptions as justification for countervailing duties” there is a seemingly wrong stance on this. We are also given “A U.S. Commerce Department fact sheet released this week and shared with CBC by the Canadian Mushroom Growers’ Association says that following an investigation, the U.S. government will be hitting Canadian fresh mushrooms with tariffs of between 1.6 and five per cent. Countervailing duties are slapped on imports judged to be unfairly subsidized. Similar U.S. investigations have resulted in duties on Canadian softwood lumber for decades.” So whilst we see that this is unfair, the article does bring out a few parts that might show that American mushroom growers can see that they are unfairly handled. At this point there is a setting that the US government should intervene. It is also clear that this is not due to the growers, but by clever supermarket entrepreneurs who see tax exemptions to get cheaper goods and I get that they do this, but this trap, which was always a hidden trap, might be blowing up in the faces of all. We then get “CBC news asked Agriculture Minister Heath MacDonald’s office for a statement regarding the mushroom duties. A spokesperson pointed CBC News to Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc’s office for comment. LeBlanc’s office deferred to Global Affairs Canada, which has yet to offer a statement. The U.S. also launched a separate investigation which could result in further anti-dumping tariffs on mushrooms later this year.” In this case I would hand the reader: “is this anti-dumping or clever supermarket purchase policies?” There are different angles at looking at the dice that some are playing with. And this almost directly relates to the second article (at https://www.cbc.ca/news/investigates/sobeys-loblaw-maple-washing-9.7196767) where we see ‘Sobeys, Loblaw under fire for maple washing, as Sobeys ditches maple leaf symbol in stores’ which is accompanied by “Federal regulator has identified 127 cases of maple washing by retailers since the start of 2025”, the conspiracy theorists will blame American intervention, but I am seeing a place where those purchasing for supermarkets that they are on a sliding scale of disaster and they are choosing to level that sliding scale by a lot. So when we see “More than a year after the Buy Canadian movement took root, grocery giants Loblaw and Sobeys are facing increased scrutiny over “maple washing” the practice of promoting imported goods as homegrown.” And it is where we see “The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) slapped two Loblaw-owned stores in January with $10,000 fines each for maple washing, and one month later, two other Loblaw-owned stores got formal warnings for the same violation, CBC News has learned. Sobeys is also on the CFIA’s radar. The federal food regulator told CBC it has received multiple complaints about the grocer and maple washing and has wrapped up an investigation into advertising practices overseen by Sobeys head office.” I am thinking that it is time for a change. It is time for the Commonwealth when not producing their own goods, to buy Canadian /Commonwealth. 

A combines sticker with the flags of Canada, UK, Australia, new Zealand, India, Jamaica (full be honest, I am including Jamaica to complete a set of six). When this purchasing setting is invoked there will be several changes. When we prefer our (near) local produce over American produce, there will be a change in several ways and as I see it, the supermarkets can either adapt or go under. Canada did not start this war, but with the help of the Commonwealth it can finish it. And for those having stock in Sobeys and Loblaw can either sell whatever stock they have or lose a massive amount of money. When the bulk of the Canadians walk away from these two brands, these brands will feel the hurt of no sales really quickly. Some will debate that America started all this and as such they should pay and I am not deaf to that premise, but these two providers set the change in motion and that should not be rewarded either. 

As such we have options and I reckon that if the UK, Australia and New Zealand follow Canada in taking American alcohol off the shelves the impact will be seen to a much larger extent. And it benefits the Commonwealth too, Gin from UK, Whiskey from UK and Canada, Rum from Australia, and there are a few combinations that will give the Commonwealth the investment in their own products. I reckon that it will take less than a year for over a 100 brands to fall into receivership. Good idea from this US administration to cry ‘America First’ so when that implode on their plates we can move on towards cars and a few other items. There is great satisfaction in this, but there is another setting. The stage where we see that there is justice in anti-dumping tariffs and the United States has a valid point in protecting its home made produce and these two articles do not bear this out. But that might be my view on the matter. What does matter is that these two articles show that Canada is sailing a narrow margin boat across heavy waves and there will be enough casualties on both sides of the border to consider that there needs to be another way. Because that is seemingly overlooked and perhaps these two points are not as simple as they seem because there are several issues in play.

Have a great day.

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May 13, 2026 · 15:11

A yellow cap

That is the setting and whether you call it a yellow cap or a golden dome is up to you, but beware, a simple top of mind gives this a weird setting. CBC gives us (at https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/golden-dome-trump-cbo-cost-estimate-9.7196982) ‘Budget office estimates Trump’s proposed Golden Dome will have trillion-dollar price tag over 20-year period’ and I thought that this was another bleak idea (right along the Trump Gold Card, which apparently is a huge failure with one sell, which was allegedly given as a present) and that was it for me, but then the CBC gives me the one line that opens the debate. 

It was “Somewhat inspired by Israeli defences”, so you think that changing the name from Iron to Golden does the trick? Consider the implications. It works for Israel as it is roughly the size of New Jersey. Consider Texas, that state with Netflix issues (see yesterdays blog) is 10 times the size of New Jersey. It could be attacked from the south by Mexico border, the SouthEast amphibious/Cuba, West/North via Cruise missiles and then we get that Israel is mostly like minded, in the United States the threat of Asymmetric/Internal Threats is decently real. And this is merely one state. As I see it, Texas, Florida, California, Washington State, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia sets a new chapter all together. My (massively inaccurate) setting throws the amount between $3 trillion and $5 trillion and that is when the massive write offs happen, an economy that cannot afford anywhere near that amount. As such that $1 trillion over 20 years will need critical investigations. The setting is simple. Consider that the Israel can fit into the United States 465 times (approximately) and now consider that the Iron Dome is set to United States parameters and not made out of gold (pewter is more like it), that equation doesn’t even get close to do its work when we see the impact on what the Iron Dome would need to do in the United States. I think I am merciful when I think it s a mere 3-5 trillion that bill might be significantly larger. So when we see “The U.S. Golden Dome is envisioned to include ground and space-based capabilities able to detect, intercept and stop missiles at all major stages of a potential attack. Congress has already approved roughly $24 billion US for the missile defence initiative through Republicans’ massive tax and spending measure signed into law last summer.” As such the ability to detect might require an upgrade (an idea that the movie a house of dynamite (2025) gave me). And that is merely attacks from missiles. The setting that the United States faces through asymmetric sets these detection methods on lose wheels. That all requires manpower, construction and a few more kinks can show up. The cyber settings will become almost humongous and for the most they cannot predict what is next, some can’t see what is a threat now, but that is a different story. As I see it, Israel has had decades to create the iron dome settings and they did it will, but to apply this to a nation the size of the United States is rather ludicrous, on a side note, Canada would equally be unable to deploy a system like that, the cost alone would cripple the Canadian economy, only so that “The Boss” can sleep safely at night? Good luck with that idea. 

As such I have no idea what gave the Pentagon (or related people) the idea that this is a workable idea? I get that the united States might want to upgrade its defenses, but to throw it at a gimmick that has no foundation on reality is as I personally see it beyond silly. 

So whilst the article ends with “Sen. Jeff Merkley, a Democrat from Oregon, who requested the estimate from the CBO, said in response to the report that the missile defence project is “nothing more than a massive giveaway to defence contractors paid for entirely by working Americans.” Last May, the president said the Golden Dome would cost $175 billion US. The CBO last year estimated that just the space-based components of the Golden Dome could cost as much as $542 billion US over the next 20 years.” I seem to be on the side of Senator Jeff Merkley because it is as I see it more than a massive giveaway to defence contractors. It requires a lot more and it would requires military technicians and a massive monitoring issue on all these missiles and observation posts, Then you get exclude zones for these places and even as some will be the same, it might require a lot more and that is where the shoes become too uncomfortable to wear. As I see it, it requires a total overhaul of a system that was decent to begin with, which will make it prone to overhaul issues and the cyber nightmare that follows to overhaul it all is merely the beginning. There are a few more issues where I have no knowledge, as such I will not know all the issues but when I look at this from the ground at a distance, there is no way that $1 trillion will cover that and as such someone needs to take a critical look at this and I wonder what pentagon involvement was handed to the CBO in this. Just a thought to entertain. Well that is that from me, I will continue tonight on a better fairy tale, one that will grant Abu Dhabi TV the option to give muslim channels a desire to connect to Abu Dhabi TV channels. I can make fairy tales too, I merely hand them to the audiences to gasp at, no fear needed. Merely good feelings. Have a great day.

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May 11, 2026 · 02:51

By the numbers

There is an old ‘saying’, it comes from the late 70’s and it goes a little like this:

There are three ways to lose your company:
Through women, which is the prettiest method.
Through gambling, which is the fastest method.
Through Statistics, which is the most certain method.

In the 50 years that followed we learned that the first option might be the prettiest, but you still end up with a working company. The second one is still an issue, but the third one is still under consideration, Especially with the presumed setting of AI (or as I call is NIP or Fake AI.

This all came to me when I was bombarded with charts and there are numerous ways that we are handed these charts, but it also gave me a consideration. You see, no matter how deep you believe the data to be true, it remains a consideration that any data is flawed and through that setting not entirely trustworthy. 

You see, this is the country with the most migrants, but what I am missing is where they came from. I saw another article in the BBC, which gave us ‘La dolce vita: Is Italy the new tax haven for the global rich?’ (at https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20260421-is-italy-the-new-tax-haven-for-the-global-rich)here we see “In France you also have to pay a property tax (taxe foncière or land tax). “We don’t have that here for the prima casa (first home),” says Robert, although he notes “there is a high charge for refuse collection”. The best thing as far as he is concerned is that there is no inheritance tax on property you own in Italy up to €1 million ($1.1 million) and it’s only 4% beyond that threshold. In France the tax-free limit is much lower – €100,000 ($110,000) – and beyond that it’s a sliding scale up to a top rate of 45%.” The story is about the ‘global rich’? All this might be true, but I believe that there is a larger migration into Europe. The setting that Americans are leaving, a setting we got in the Wall Street Journal on February 25th 2026, where we saw “The U.S. experienced net negative migration in 2025, with an estimated loss of 150,000 people, a trend not seen since the Great Depression.” And if you are ‘really wealthy’, you skip Italy and go straight to Monaco, which is a zero tax nation. So that first chart is nice, but where they came from is more interesting, especially in the era 2026-2028. 

We then get the second chart, which shows us where the youth is scientifically. Here we get the first issue. There is consideration that these numbers are flawed n some cases. As some give us: “There are approximately 1.2 billion young people aged 15 to 24 globally”, and I know enough of the failing of data, to give you the fact that there are no data sets giving us 1.2 billion records. As such plenty of nations have worked with mean values and that is the first failing on that chart. Second it is nice to see the USA in 17th position, but they have a population of 349 million and not all can afford to go to University, then we get foreign students in MIT, UCLA,
Princeton, Harvard and Yale. So how are they counted and what is disregarded? Several questions on a chart because the data is missing (and footnotes too). So whilst these numbers might be indicative that those scoring over 500 are in a ‘safe’ place, but that is if we accept this number. And the explanation of those scores, with added footnotes on what is regarded as ‘valid’ is up for grabs. 

And then we get the main event, the one that baffled me for a moment, because is gave my thoughts optional validity, but then I need to be wary of a few settings, because without data, a chart is merely a weighted result and without N (total responses) there are reliability issues. 

We now see the top countries by natural resource value. It gives me my validity as the United States is show to have $45T in value and that is the setting that makes them optionally almost insolvent. Their debt is growing faster and faster and as it is now said to be $38.9 trillion, which amounts to exceeding 100% of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP), but as we see it, they have almost spend the total of their natural resources. I have an issue with that, because the rare metals are not in that list all whilst Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona have it, as such that number is off (by a lot) and other nations have more (or less) natural numbers as the chart sets out, all whilst these numbers are not given either as such it is a nice chart, but incomplete and as such redundant. If I was to hazard a guess, this was a chart to show how ‘good’ Russia is doing, but as I never saw data on it all as such I have my issues with it. All charts look pretty cool, but cool doesn’t pay the baker (or the butcher for that matter). As such we need to wonder what the chart was doing, not what they tell you, but what they aren’t telling you.

That was just my setting on this and there is a lot more to consider so whilst the first chart gave us “The U.S. hosts 17% of the world’s migrants”, my initial question was “Based on what data?” And as people m ight give us the setting that the AI gave them the numbers and we know that AI doesn’t yet exist. We are given the thought that it is merely DML and that is done by a programmer and that programmer might miss a few beats to be optimistic (many more beat are likely to have been missed) and all this on flawed data? 

So what was the designer of that chart trying to persuade you to consider what was ‘their’ issue? Because when someone makes a chart, they want you to look into a specific area, or not look in an area that also mattered. Have a great day, another Monday parked on front of my door, Vancouver still has the bulk of Sunday to get through. Ah well.

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May 6, 2026 · 10:03

The stories created

We all love a good story, we almost all of us saw the “Chris Pratt Parks and Recs blooper” and nearly all of the male watchers had to howl, most women would giggle too but what is clearly a blooper could be seen in a different light, so as I saw some AU Investing dot com (at https://m.au.investing.com/news/economy-news/saudi-arabia-reports-335b-budget-deficit-in-first-quarter-93CH-4406376) setting where we are given ‘Saudi Arabia reports $33.5B budget deficit in first quarter’ all whilst they make sure there is no mention of Iran or the Strait of Hormuz. So what is that? Fear mongering amongst the investors? To be sure there was another matter given “Published Jan 01, 0001 10:00” which is a little over 1950 years before the internet was in existence. They ‘updated’ the story on “Updated May 05, 2026 23:56”, so I hope that this is enough to set the fear of investors at ease. The other stage is what does the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have in their coffers? I reckon it is more than I have ever seen in my life and I reckon that is as truthful as we can consider, the second part is that as the price of oil goes up (by a lot) the reserves that Saudi Arabia has is almost staggering. So if they had 152 million barrels in reserve, that increase could amount to over $5.320B and if they have more (and the surplus is even rated higher) there is almost no deficit (on paper) it would be real if there is no sales, but there are sales, a little less then normal, but that is the stage of war and I gave Saudi Arabia (the UAE too) a way to fight this and Iran could state (openly) that all Gulf State vessels bound for China could move freely and that takes the pressure off too.

It is the simplest way for Iran to keep pressures on the United States and whilst they are looking towards that goal, they could release pressure to China and Japan, because a war on multiple fronts they are unlikely ever to win, but they could try and then the gulf states could remove the Iranian harbour and their railroads, also their refineries. I think it is not a setting they should pressure for, because I have a few more IP settings going the way of Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Iran boasted and lost because I took this personally and the eager mind that has nothing to lose is not the one you want to have turned against you.

A simple setting of storytelling, but what makes the story a mere presentation of what could be? It is not the AI analyses, because I am an outlier and outlier get removed and decreased to the mean for ‘error’ decrease but that is also the stage that Ubisoft tried in other ways. “If you try to appease everyone, you merely please no one” it is a life lesson that is applicable to games, life, war and IP and that is the error prone setting that players like Iran never seem to see. But they will learn almost always a few weeks too late, so whilst they start crying “we need a deal” you know that they are worried of what comes next, or even more likely something that happened less than 24 hours ago. It is the beckoning setting of change and whilst some do not ant change, I am eager to see the changes on the board of that setting, because that is where some could fill their pockets to the largest degree. At that point the issue is not what Iran does, but it becomes what the Gulf states are doing and what the United States and Israel are doing or just did, it is all part of that same equation and they are outliers, but the known outliers are an indication of what is and especially as others are ‘deflating these events to the mean’ it is an even more precise setting of what others will do and whilst we cannot trust the western media to the largest extent, this ‘devaluation’ should be seen as what ‘their friends’ want to get presented. So whatever story you accept (even mine), consider why these stories are handed to you because there is a story behind every story and even as that sounds confusing, seeing what is often called “walla” in media production, is the low-level, continuous chatter of a crowd, used to create realistic atmosphere in film, games, or to improve focus, but it could also be seen as the stage of staging misrepresentation of events. Just a thought to entertain.

Have a great day today.

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April 30, 2026 · 22:50

Out of my mind

Yup, this happens. We sometimes lose it and after a few days without sleep. My mind went bah bah too (a black sheep reference) and as such I was driven between the Ubisoft setting (and Article in UK Metro), the options that Saudi Arabia has in entertainment, the NEOM setting and a few more things. As such lets start at the beginning. 

UK Metro is giving us (at https://metro.co.uk/2026/04/30/assassins-creed-doesnt-need-remakes-needs-a-complete-overhaul-28169243/) where we are given ‘Assassin’s Creed doesn’t need remakes, it needs a complete overhaul’, I have had a few thoughts on that in the past, especially when anger hits me as you approach your first fort and tornado’s swirl around that fortress (until you destroyed its canons), it gave me the rudest most violent thoughts (I’ll spare you the details). You see, I know it is a game and not a very realistic one. My largest issue is that it is not really an Assassins Creed game, it could have been a legendary upgrade from Sid Meier’s Pirates, it never went there. And beside the excellent graphics there was a lot more, but there were annoying parts too (like running like the Prince of Persia after shanties), it was the setting that I gave the phrase ‘If you want to appease everyone, you’ll end up pleasing no one’ it came to blows there and more afterwards. Then we get “The original Assassin’s Creed failed to live up to this promise. It was highly repetitive and pretty shoddy despite its visual splendour, while the sci-fi Animus twist largely got in the way of the 12th century hijinks. The series, however, executed on its original promise with Assassin’s Creed 2, which replicated the Italian Renaissance period with a dynamite (and still series’ best) protagonist in Ezio, who led its two sequels Brotherhood and Revelations.” I disagree, there is truth in all that, but Assassins Creed delivered originality and a stellar script. Running around in Accra and Jerusalem was a boyhood dream come true. Yes, there was repetition, it was originally release on the PS3 20 years ago. A system with 512MB memory with a 20GB hard drive. There were still limitations in those days, but the game gave as good as we can expect from any system in those days and AC2 surpassed it beautifully. So whilst I created the setting for new updates in usage for the Ubisoft titles, Metro also gives us “Assassin’s Creed games aren’t known for their bold narratives, but maybe a radical, unexpected shift in setting could spark some creative verve. Go more contemporary with a Second World War spy slant, or lean into the sci-fi premise and shoot forwards in time instead. Fundamentally, surprise people with something fresh beyond the swords and sandals.” A setting I disagree with, don’t get me wrong. They are partially right with that view, but there were only three greats in RPG like story telling. There was Bethesda (something about scrolls), there was Bioware with Dragons and Mass Effect and there was Ubisoft. In those days these made the hits and the lines. As far as I know there was nothing like Assassins Creed and I never got all the flags (at least three attempts were made playing from start to stop) and I never regretted any hours I played that game. Could more be done? Perhaps, but then I would have to do this. I don’t hod anything against the makers of the first three games. They delivered. 

So a rewrite of the entire Assassins creed is possible, but where? Consider that the Playstation and Switch2 are there, so is the PC and whatever console Microsoft has. An entire overhaul would have been possible on streaming systems, but that is wet stuff under the bridge (I believe they call this water). The next part of the disagreed issues is given with “Assassin’s Creed is one of the biggest franchises in gaming, and was once a creative force in the realm of third person action games, but Ubisoft has allowed it to coast into an outdated and predictable mould. It’s about time it stopped dredging up the past, and gave players an exciting, rejuvenated reason to be excited about its future.” I agree with this, but there is some disagreement. Especially the ‘outdated and predictable mould’ yes they are outdated, but they were good, there is a reason heart beat faster at the sight of the Ezio collection, there is genuine love for AC Shadows and that is not outdated. And as the predictability, there is a partial agreement, but I want Stealth games, I want that rush of  sneaking up on a person (in a game mind you) from behind and use a karambit to give him a necktie red colouring scheme (those who know, know). 

An overhaul might be called for to get rid off the prince of Persia parts. I don’t mind the shanties, which makes for a lovely pirate lore, but they should go about it different. Including buying them from entertainers, buying musical instruments in general stores and a few other places (like in a commanders room in a fortress). All options and the difference of the attempts gives us the diversification. As I have been replaying Black Flag the last few days (I only opened 70% of the achievements), there is a need to get more of them, although I do not think I will get them all. 

So I agree with the overhaul, but not because of the ‘outdated and predictable mould’, I believe that if Ubisoft slams (and deletes) the setting of ‘If you want to appease everyone, you’ll end up pleasing no one’ because that was the undoing of that franchise. On the other side. I already handed Ubisoft 2 directions, one with the language approach as over 3 billion people are learning languages and the next one is the creation of immersive storylines, making it a collection of books and that can be done with a whole range of locations in Assassins Creed and Watchdogs, although 1 and 2 are in the United States and they haven’t spoken English in decades, so there is that. I placed in my blog the Idea for a Watchdogs 4 which I placed in Kyoto, it was essential to do it there and have a hard mode which would stumble the gamer in Japanese, but there would be glasses, like smart glasses and I did that somewhere in 2018/2019.

But for Assassins Creed, there are a few other settings, but the bulk is OK as far as I can tell, going all the way back to the first Assassins Creed, which was in 1191 (sorry, a Dr. Who joke). The part that was stellar was the storyline, the entire assassins/templar setting was never given to a gamer before, no one ever had the ‘audacity’ to give us the combination of reality with storyline before (as far as I know), so when we look at an overhaul we tend to agree, because the game has taken such a large setting over the last 20 years that everyone agrees with one of more games. I reckon except the ‘Ezio’ games, they are close to perfect it had a 90%, a 87% and a 82%. Revelations made the mistake of too much Prince of Persia, but I could live with that. The only part I disagree on was Brotherhood, the stealth was more demanding and better and whilst some ‘complain’ the tasks were much more on par and defining, I haven’t touched this game close to a decade, so I might pick it up again.

So there is much to agree to and even more to disagree to. Even my stuff is subjective and I get that it might rub people the wrong way, this is simply as gaming is highly personal and we all have our own cloud of gaming in mind, I get that. So am I against the article in Metro or in favour? That’s hard to say, they touch on issues that are real, but it goes against 20 years of programming and the fact that we all play according to our desire in play, so overall I am is disagreement on the article, but it touches on a few very real settings that we all agree with and with a franchise this big that is to be expected, one last part is that I haven’t played AC Shadows for a while and I haven’t finished it as I never beat Joken Hokkyo, after a dozen times I just gave up. That happens too. I am not always in the best headspace for some moments in time. The open fight at the end was too taking and not very Assassins Creed.

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April 21, 2026 · 23:55

This is not centerfield

You might think that doesn’t make sense, but for me it does. I have been all over the field, mainly because a few things are hitting me at the same time. First there is the setting that I feel for, the Attacks on the UAE and a few other matters made me want to shout out towards the UAE. I ‘handed’ them the IP to hurt Iran, as well as a few other matters. So as I saw today ‘Disney (DIS) Increases Peak Ticket Prices to Record Highs’ source: Gurufocus news) I realized that the UAE has a larger recovery plan in place, as long as we deal with Iran and their missiles, the Trump setting does not help and a solution needs to be found, but the UN is useless as I see it, as such there is no expected help from that side. Then we get the false information (usually from people wishing they would become influencers) so that is a side that needs attending to (by the proper authorities) and I have little solution there. I can illuminate these losers, but it is like mopping the floor whilst the tap is still running. So whilst that Disney news is out there, there is a clear side for the UAE to increase the settings in that field But there is one side that could be dealt with, gaining traction through free options. My issue with this is that it is nice, but why should the Emirati government have to pay for it all. It then hit me that one thing that WaterWorld Abu Dhabi has is the Al Raha River. It seems like such fun and especially in Summer. It then hit me that this is one entertainment version that could be implemented near hotels. It seems like a low cost setting that beside the initial building, could offer entertainment, without the high cost. So consider places like Capital Park (Abu Dhabi) it has several hotels around the corner, people visit that place, what could be more inviting than something like the Al Raha River (with a different name of course) where people could relax, without paying a large amount (optionally the tubes have to be bought, or people bring their own). And this is merely one location, you could have a few of these in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, preferably in a place where several hotels are found. There is also the ‘need’ for webcams, or publicly accessible form of CCTV in public places, so that people can see that these wannabe influencers are full of idiocy. So that the world sees that the UAE is open for business and that people are there to have fun. It is a small step to increase the tourist settings as Gurufocus gave me is that Disney (at peak times) of $219 per person, this is nuts, because that amounts to 805 Dirham per person. I reckon that will feed a person for a week (an assumption from my side) the first thing that people who price themselves out of a market need to realise that their audience goes somewhere else. 

Places like Al Baik can feed two people for a meal for AED 55, so that amounts to 15 meals, so my assumption of feeding someone for a week can be achieved, you need even less if you go to a place like Carrefour. But it is not about food, it is about the UAE getting new and more visitors to their location. So whilst the UAE is hit with all kinds of nonsense not unlike “As of April 2026, Smartraveller advises Australians “Do Not Travel” to the UAE due to volatile security, high regional tensions, and risk of military conflict”, we can all agree that there is a risk of military conflict, but what exactly is “volatile security”? The UAE has been one of the safest places on the planet for years. We can agree that there are regional tensions, but this is what Iran threw at them, not in any form what the locals (read: Emirati’s) do. As I see it, it is still one of the most safe places, even with the military tension that exists to some degree. 

As I see it, there is always a need for free entertainment, the USA has it on TV and it is called C-SPAN (or was that C-SPAM)? There is a lot more in focus and places like Dubai Media Incorporated (DMI) should get global views, you see when that happens the bulk of the streaming solutions we are given (at a price), gets competition from Dubai TV, which is generally free-to-air, and now consider that the new Dubai+ streaming app offers free, ad-supported access to 30,000+ hours of content. This was the setting I was considering whilst I was working on ‘Just a Game’ for its part two. It is still a short film, but I tend to be a man of my word and I promised the Director of the NSA (now Army Lieutenant General Joshua Rudd) and the Director of GCHQ (still Anne Keast-Butler) a heart attack, don’t get me wrong. I have nothing against the institutions or the directors in charge, I just needed a hobby and this was the best I could come up with my lacking resources. 

Sometimes I walk through the park (to think things through) and I am watching what is in the park and I wonder, do they have this in the UAE? Totally irrelevant to my setting, but a nation, innocent of anything other then the welfare of its citizens is currently under attack from Iran, it made me consider what else I could do. Even as we are given (13 minutes ago) ‘Trump tells CNBC he expects U.S. to make ‘great deal’ with Iran’, it seems folly as the Islam Times gives us 40 minutes ago ‘Trump Turning Negotiating Table into “Table of Surrender”’ and in all this, the UAE is caught in the middle. So what to do?

I ‘handed’ them my military IP (free of charge) and I have one optional adjustment for the road solution, but that is a little matter. The real deal is what will help the UAE (or Saudi Arabia for that matter). I currently have absolutely no faith in any solution the United States administration brings. 

And there is no need for my actions, but when you see the world burning I want to do something and I tend to go in creative mode, it is just the person I am. It is clear that that this solution is not coming in a day, but there is the need to adjust what there is to improve the pull of tourism and also the joy of the Emirati’s, who serve to let of steam in the meantime. And I believe that tourism will improve if people know what is possible and what is expected and the idea that DMI goes global might be a first step towards getting there and this could be done before the dust settles and as these solutions come forward it would also improve the offer of scripts and talent towards the UAE, but it requires the global audiences to realise that the UAE is more than the Dubai Mall and zero taxation. As more options are shown, more solutions will become available to the UAE and optionally even solutions I never realized, I don’t know everything, so that makes sense. Then there is the setting that places like ADNOC requires staff, only yesterday places were advertising for 929 Marine ADNOC job opportunities, in this world where people don’t have a job because AWS, Microsoft, Oracle and IBM (optionally others too) have shedded over 55,000 employees, they might consider the UAE as a worthy place for their skillset, one can only hope. 

So as you can see, my brain is all over the place and not always in the best of state, but that is me, always skating in his little square like a goalie watching for the puck to come his way, so that he can slam it in the other direction.

So, I am not a centerfielder, I am a goalie (a wannabe goalie for the Toronto Maple Leafs at best) and I am doing the best I can as such I am relying on my creativity (at almost 64 I have to) and I am doing the best I seemingly know. So answer for yourself. Who thought of visibility of the UAE by giving the Dubai Media Incorporated a global stage? Who thought of seeing what parks have and considering the concrete table tennis in Burwood (near Sydney) how many of these tables do the parks in the UAE (Dubai, Sharjah or Abu Dhabi) have? All thought of consideration and there are more sports that could be promoted in this way. The first step in doing something is to have the thought and instilling this in others. Only then will any action make sense. But that is merely me having a thought and optionally a useless one, but that is merely on me.

Have a great day.

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